ELISABETH “Betsy” DeVos was approved Tuesday morning by the U.S. Senate as the new Secretary of Education. Vice President Mike Pence cast the deciding vote after the full Senate deadlocked at 50-50 (BDV.com photo).

With Vice President Mike Pence casting the deciding vote, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday morning confirmed Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. The full Senate was deadlocked 50-50, with 48 Democrats (including two independents who caucus with them) joined by two Republicans. Fifty Republican Senators voted to support DeVos, who has been more controversial than other Cabinet nominees of President Donald Trump for her advocacy of school choice and her lack of experience with public education.

Democrats filibustered for 24 hours in an effort to postpone the decision, hoping to round up a third Republican who might vote against confirmation. Pence’s tie-breaking vote is believed to be the first time a vice president has been called upon to decide the fate of a Cabinet nominee.

Also on Tuesday, judges from the 9th District Court of Appeals in San Francisco will hear arguments on a government appeal of a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge James Hobart in Seattle halting enforcement of Trump’s executive order stopping travel into the U.S. from seven majority-Muslim nations.